Side-track-draft attachment for vehicles.



H. GUOSENS. SIDE TRACK DRAFT ATTACHMENT PoR vBHIoLBs. APPLICATION FILED 11113.18, 1912.

1,040,930. Patentedv oct. s, 1912.

E lllllhll IV A town of Columbia, in the .county of Monroe UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY GOOSENS, OF COLUMBIA, ILLINOIS.

SIDE-TRACK-DRAFT ATTACHMENT FOR VEHICLES.

Specicatlion of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct 8,1912.

Application led March 18, 1912. Serial No. 654,456.

To all'whom it may concern:

'Be it knoWn that. I, HENRY G oosnNs, a citizen ofthe United States, residlngat the and State of Illinois, have invented certain neu7 and useful Improvements in Side- Track-Draft Attachments for Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to one-horse vehicles and has for its primary object to provide a side-track draft attachment therefor, so that the animal can. travel in one of the side-tracks formed by the passage of twohorse teams over the road and, at the same constructed are used.

Further, the present invention consists of i novel features of construction and arrangement of parts as will4 be hereinafter more fullyv described andv pointed'out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which like .numbers of reference denote like parts Whereever they occur, Figure 1 is a. top plan Viewof my improved side-track draft attachment; Fig. Q-is'a front View of same; and Fig. 3 is a sectional View, on an enlarged scale, on` the line 3 3, Fig. 1.

The front kaxle 41 is preferablyformed with a rectangular cross-sectional configuration and is made substantially horizontal instead of being arched as in the usual construction. The spindle 2 at one end of the axle l, preferably the end adjacent the side of the vehicle on which the driver usually sits, is preferably made cylindrical and is provided with an elongated screw-threaded extension. 3 which projects beyond the hub of the lwheel 4, an elongated nut 5 being fitted on said screw-threaded extension, in order to hold the Wheel 4 in place on said spindle, and, also,l to cover substantially the Whole of said screw-threaded extension, as best seen in Fig. 3. A Wheel .6 ismounted on the spindle borne-by the other end Vof the axle 1 and isheld in place thereon byV the usual means. Said wheel 6 is made smaller in diameter than the wheel 4 for the purpose hereinafter described, and, for this reason,l the axle 1 is offset at. 7, as best seen in Fig.'2, so that said axle will be substantially horizontal, said offset being enlarged or weighted by any suitable means. so that the weight of the wheel 6 and part of theV axle on one side of the kingbolt 8-counter balances the weight of the Wheel 4 and the 'part of the axle on the other side of said' king-bolt, so as to prevent the vehicle from turning over.

The shafts 9'are connected by the usual cross-bar .10, on which the swingletree 11 is pivotally attached at 1Q, land are so positioned that the center line thereof is intermediate the wheel 4 and the king-bolt S, so

that the animal will be located in front of the driver and will travel in one of the sidetracks in the road, While at the same time the wheels of the vehicle will travel in the usual Wheel-tracks' in the road. One of the .shafts 9 is located upon the outer side of the .wheel 4 and has its rear end pivotally attached to the ears 13 of a clamp 14 by means of a bolt 15 or the like, said clamp being secured to the elongated nut 5 by any suitable means at the end thereof. The other shaft .9 is located intermediate the Wheels 4 and' 6 and'has its rear end pivotally attached to the ears 13 -of another` clamp 14 by means of a boltl 15 or the like, said clamp being preferably located at av point near the king-bolt 8 and intermediate said king-bolt and wheel 6.

A rod 1G is bolted or otherwise secured at one end thereof to the shaft 9 that is located intermediate the Wheels 4 and 6. and the other end of said rod is pivotally attached to the ears 13 of a third clamp 14 by means of a bolt 15, which clamp is secured to the axle 1 by any suitable means. The rod 16 acts as a brace for the shafts 9,l

when the vehicle is turned toward one side,

and also, as a tie-rod, when the vehicle is turned toward the other side, and thereby lessens the strain on the particular bolts 15, which attach said shafts to the clamps 14. Said axle 1y is preferably formed of iron, steel, or any other suitable metal. .An auxiliary axle or member 17, which is preferably formed of wood, is supported on the upper side of axle 1 and is detachably secured thereto by means of U-bolts 18 and plates 19, being preferably arranged to extend longitudinally of said axle 1 from a pointnear the hub of wheel 4 to the offset 7. The king-bolt 8 is supported in the usual manner by the frame of the vehicle, and passes through an opening in a plate 20, the latter being detachably secured on the auxiliary axle 17 by means of a U-bolt 21 which embraces both axles 1 and 17. The lower member 22 of the fifth wheel rests on the auxiliary axle 17 and is detachably secured thereto by means of two pairs of bolts 23 which have their heads countersunk in said lower member so as to allow the upper member 22 of the fifth wheel to pass smoothly over said lower member. The bolts 23 of each pair pass through openings in the lower member A 22, on opposite sides of the auxiliary axle 17, and, also, through openings in a plate 24 vwhich is held firmly against the lower side of the axle 1 by means of the nuts 25. The upper member 22 of the fifth. wheel rests upon the lower member 22 and is secured in the usual manner to the frame of the vehicle. The nuts 26 on the U-bolt 2l hold'the plate 20 firmly in place on the auxiliary axle 17 and the nuts 25 on the'bolts 23,'hold the lower member 22 of the fifth wheel firmlyin place on said auxiliary. axle. When, however, it is desiredto detach the -device fromthe vehicle, the nuts 25 and 26 are removed from the bolts 23 and 21, respectively, thereby disconnecting the auxiliary axle 17 and axle 1 from the fifth wheel and the king-bolt 8, whereupon the fron-t of the vehicle can be raised so as to leave the auxiliary axle 17 and axle 1 detached from the fifth wheel and y the king-bolt 8.

One 0'reat advantaofe resultin from forming the wheel 6 with a smaller diameter than the wheel 4 resides in the fact` that more space is left` between the wheel 6 and the back wheel (not shown) on the same side of the vehicle with said wheel 6,' so as to allow a person to get in and out of the vehicle without rubbing against said wheel, and, also, to permit easy access to the front of the vehicle, in order to place articlesinto or remove samel from the front -part of the vehicle, either from the front over the ydashboard or from the sidev between the wheel 6 and the rear wheel in back of same. F urther, by reason of forming wheels 6 with a smaller diameter than wheel 4, said wheels will travel substantially abreast of each other, instead of wheel 4 traveling in advance of the wheel 6 as is usually the case when both wheels are the same size. .ln

, practice, it has been found that, for this purpose, the best results are obtained when the ratio between the diameter of wheel 6 and the diameter of wheel 4 is the same as the ratio between the'gage of said wheels and the total length of the axle l, z'. e., the gage of said wheels plus the extension on the axle 1. For example, if the ratio of the gage of the wheels 4 and 6 to the total length of the axle l is four to five, then the ratio of the diameter of wheel '6 to the diameter of the wheel 4 is also, four to live, c., the wheel 6 is formed with a diameter four- Afifths as large as the diameter of wheel 4.

It is, also, preferable that the spokes of the wheel 4 shallbe arranged in staggered relation, somewhat similar to a bicycle wheel, while the wheel G is formed likev an ordinary carriage wheel.

I claim:

In con'ibinat-ion with the front. axle of a vehicle having a relatively smaller wheel at one end than at the opposite end'thereof the end of the axle having the larger wheel extended beyond. the latter, a pair of shafts,-

one of said shafts being `attached to the said axle extensionand the other being attached to the axle at a point between the wheels, v

and means adjacent `thesmaller wheely to countei'balance the axle, said smaller. wheel acting to compensate for the inequality of the lines of force exerted by the draft animal in drawing the vehicle so that both wheels will travel substantially abreast of each other. i

In testimony whereof I hereunto ailix my signature inthe presence of two witnesses.

HENRY GOOSENS.

Titnesses lWALTER C. GUnLs, GEORGE G. ANDERSON.

Copies of'this'patent may be obtained' for ve cents each, `by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

